Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 643

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 11th of August 2016 

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student.

The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

What I Have to Say 

This is a very well thought out world. It was obvious while reading it that there was a load of world building that was worked out intricately. I loved the footnotes. As annoying as they were to read on my tablet, I think that every fantasy book with a lot of world-building behind it should have footnotes like this for the author to share the information that want to share without it bogging down the text with useless detail. This was a way to do it without the pressure on the reader to read through it all to get to the story. They're amusing comments and extra detail that can be skipped if the reader wishes to. It's genius and I love it.

The humour was fantastic. The whole book, and a lot of the footnotes, were filled with the kind of dry wit and sarcastic comments that I really like to see in books. The way that the narrator would occasionally add their own comment or joke on what's happening was really interesting and great to read. I also loved Mr. Kindly. I felt that everything he said was funny and awesome. 

It was a long read, but one that I enjoyed immensely. I was fascinated by the world and the characters. Mia felt like a refreshing take on the "strong female heroine" trope, showing herself to be a strong fighter, an opinionated woman with a healthy attitude towards sex and boys without seeming to 2D female stereotype. She felt like a real woman with no unnecessary love triangles. This is how female characters should be treated from now on. 

My thanks got to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.